The United Realm
The United Realm is where, so far, the whole of the Knight and Rogue series has taken place. It seems safe to assume that it is one continent-wide country on the fictitious Earth, likely similar in form to the real world United Kingdom. Mentions of other lands beside the one Michael and Fisk are familiar with have been mentioned, but it is unclear whether they are part of the United Realm or indeed a foreign neighbor. The Realm is ruled under a feudalist system. The highest authority is the High Liege, who effectively acts as the King. As far as it's been able to be deciphered, it would appear that on the rung underneath him are Lords, who theoretically serve the High Liege directly, and to whom the Realm is divided into fiefs and overseen by. And that land is divided once again, to Barons, who in turn serve their liege lords. The law is enforced by various sorts of men-at-arms, shirrefs and deputies, and city guards, depending on location. History (this is gonna be hard to compile on the spot, with all the tidbits scattered in the books. So in the meantime, lemme just jot down what I can dig up so i/we have something to start with when i/someone can get it all sorted out. the HLs have kept peace between all the lesser nobles for over 200 years(before M&F). the first battles of the great war that had brought the realm under the liege's rule had been fought on the erran river plains...there should be a subheading for the great war itself, probably, even if not a lot can be said about it, its a very significant subject... Knights likely served some kind of political role, but its not clear... apparently before this peaceful time came, it was common for nobles to live in well-defensible but uncomfortable stone keeps, when it was much more likely that a household might be warring with its neighbors... To Be Continued. Realm Law The law of the Realm appears to be very straightforward and reasonable. Stealing, arson, disturbing the peace or breaking people out of prisons are a just few things that will get you in trouble with the law. People caught doing illegal things are taken and held in the custody closest to where their crime was committed. On a day determined by the lord of the fief it's taking place on, all of the minor offenders collected in the past month, who have not already been bailed out, are brought before one to three judicars who essentially hold a public trial for each offender in order of least to most severe offence. When someone is found guilty, the judicar(s) decide on the amount of their debt. Debts of blood are paid in blood; someone guilty of killing another person will almost certainly hang. Debts in coin are paid in coin, and when it can't be paid by the offending party, other methods of payment must be found. Sometimes this means working off a debt, and sometimes it means a flogging. Redemption Sometimes, usually when an unpayable debt is in only in coin, an outside party can step up and redeem the guilty person(s), paying their debt for them and being charged with responsibility of the actions the person they redeemed take. The person(s) that are redeemed are bound to the one who paid their debt until that person declares that their debt to them has been repaid. This is a very loose and undefined agreement. It's recorded by local law and that information is distributed throughout the Realm, so if the redeemed run away from their masters they can be tracked down, but so far, no follow-up to the initial agreement has been seen. It is up to the redeeming party when the person their debt has been repaid, and theoretically they could never declare the debt repaid. Or, it's entirely possible that one could declare their debt repaid after only a day, before it truly was, and the law would have to accept it. Unredeemed Unredeemed is a status given to those who were unable to meet the terms of their redemption, whether it is impossible for them, or they refused to meet those terms. The circumstances that lead to being unredeemed obviously vary widely due to circumstance, but most often people associate the status with violent crimes and usually assume unredeemed individuals they meet to be dangerous. The unredeemed are marked by magica tattoos put on their wrists, of broken interlocked circles, a symbol that the reason and significance has been lost to time and now is only associated with this status.